The Denver Broncos got fans riled up by selecting Dalton Risner and trading up for Drew Lock in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
What was your initial reaction when the Denver Broncos took offensive lineman Dalton Risner and quarterback Drew Lock with back-to-back picks?
Thankfully, I got to share some of mine with the NFL Mocks podcast and host Brooks Austin, and you can listen to that here.
As you could expect, my reaction to these two selections was pretty overwhelmingly positive, but why?
Is it just because the Broncos made the pick so I love it?
No. That’s not always the case and certainly not in this case.
I think one of the major reasons why I — and many of you — loved the picks of Dalton Risner and Drew Lock in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft is because it’s something we’ve wanted to happen for a really long time.
These picks weren’t guys the Broncos drafted and everyone collectively rushes to the Google machine to find out if they were good picks. They are players many of us have had on the short list for the better part of five months or more.
And when I say five months, I’m being quite literal.
Risner was the second-round pick of my first Broncos mock draft of the draft season five months ago.
Lock has been on my radar since 2017 when I remember watching him late in the season and wondering why his name wasn’t being included among the top guys in the 2018 class. If any of you recall, Lock could have easily declared after his junior season and probably still been a second-round pick in last year’s draft.
I then put out a post in December of last year when it was reported John Elway made his way to Missouri to watch Lock play against Arkansas.
It seems like these moves have been destined to happen or something. The Broncos should not have been able to get Drew Lock in round two. It seemed like a pipe dream that Dalton Risner would fall to the 41st pick, and with so many offensive linemen going before him, I’m shocked he didn’t go before then.
This had to be some stroke of fate, and I think my reaction (which you can hear above) expresses that.